Useful Bible Studies > Jonah Commentary > chapter 4

Jonah feels as if God does not care about right judgment

Jonah 4:3

In his greatest troubles, Job considered it better to be dead than to be alive (Job chapter 3). He said that because of a sense of deep despair about the state of our world. He had seen how even a good person can suffer terrible troubles. In this world, it can seem as if good and right behaviour achieves nothing.

After his experiences in Nineveh, Jonah too felt a sense of deep despair. He knew and believed that God is the judge of all people (Genesis 18:25). He understood that God is perfect; everything that God does is right and good (Deuteronomy 32:4). However, after the wicked people from Nineveh turned from their evil behaviour, God forgave them. God did not even carry out the punishment that he had sent Jonah to warn them about. So Jonah felt as if God himself no longer cared about right judgment.

We can see that Jonah was very tired. He had walked for about 2 months to get to Nineveh. Then, perhaps for the whole of the 40 day period, he had been declaring God’s message of judgment. Probably the people in Nineveh were constantly asking him questions. They needed to learn about the true God and how God wanted them to behave.

However, Jonah was not just weak and tired. He was also bitter and angry. It was in that state of anger that Jonah asked God to take away his life.

So, God again dealt with Jonah’s wrong attitudes. In chapter 1, God stopped Jonah by the storm and by the great fish. However in chapter 4, God slowly and carefully taught Jonah. He wanted to teach Jonah to have attitudes that are like God’s own attitudes. God wants his people to love other people, even as God himself loves those other people.

Next part: Is it right to be fiercely angry? (Jonah 4:4)

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